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Interactive > The 50 Greatest Neighbours

You voted in your hundreds, we tore our hair out totalling it up, but it’s finally here – the list of The 50 Greatest Neighbours, as voted for by you. We know this should really be presented as a 42-hour clip show on Channel 4, but as Jimmy Carr was busy filming The World’s Greatest Shopping Lists, you’ll just have to make do with a series of articles. And now, after five long months, we finally reveal the top ten Greatest Neighbours of all time...

10

Joe Mangel (1372 points) Rough and ready Joe couldn’t have been more different from his prim, interfering mother Nell. When she left Erinsborough in 1988, he took her place at 32 Ramsay Street and won fans with his laidback nature and feuds with both Harold Bishop and Dorothy Burke. However, it was his relationships – with wife, and Harold’s daughter, Kerry and son, Toby – that won viewers’ hearts. Toby, Kerry, and Kerry’s young daughter, Sky, brought out a softer side to Joe, which continued into his next big relationship with scatty Melanie Pearson. Their marriage was to be Joe’s final storyline as a regular character and it was 14 years before Mark Little reprised the role, as part of the show’s 20th anniversary celebrations in 2005. Biography

9

Sky Mangel (1547 points) Young Sky first arrived in Erinsborough in 1989 with her mother, Kerry, but we suspect that most people weren’t voting for that strangely mute toddler, but rather the young woman she turned into, who returned to town in 2003 after 12 years away. The 15-year-old Sky was a confident young woman who had adopted her mother’s hippy ways, along with a penchant for anything outside of the mainstream. Older viewers were delighted to have the Mangel name back on the show, while she won new fans with her outspoken ways and blossoming relationship with Boyd Hoyland. Although the couple seemed like a perfect match, Sky, in her typically unpredictable way, ended up with the slightly rougher Dylan Timmins, then slept with his brother, Stingray and ended up pregnant. And now, 20 years after the first Mangel moved into Ramsay Street, Sky is about to bring a whole new generation of the family into Erinsborough. Biography

8

Toadfish Rebecchi (1797 points) Possibly a surprise appearance in the top ten for Toadie, n a soap that sees very few of the younger cast members stick around, Ryan Moloney’s 12 years as the troublemaking kid turned lawyer is an impressive feat. First arriving in 1995 as the youngest son of the Rebecchi clan, Toadie has changed on screen from the king of the mullet, unlucky in love schoolyard scammer, to a successful young lawyer, still unlucky in love but somewhat wiser for it. Along the way he’s seen various members of his extended family come and go, and is currently attempting to stay clear of his bogan cousins, the Timminses, who’ve taken up residence in Ramsay Street. Indeed, he’s seen more family and friends come and go than most, but it seems that Toadie will be part of the Ramsay Street furniture for some time to come. Biography | Interview

7

Helen Daniels (1818 points) The only member of the show’s original cast to make it to Neighbours’ tenth birthday, Anne Haddy brought a warmth and reality to Helen Daniels that has rarely been matched by an actor in any soap. Helen never stopped dispensing advice to anyone in the street who needed it and, as Anne’s health started failing, so did Helen’s. In her final year, we saw less and less of her with writers eventually deciding to send her off on a cruise from which she would never return. But Anne wasn’t about to let that happen and she returned for one final scene, which saw Helen reunite the arguing Martin and Bishop families, before quietly passing away on the sofa. 18 months later, Anne also passed away and her funeral was attended by many of her former Neighbours colleagues. As her husband, actor James Condon, said in a 2003 interview, “Anne's portrayal of Helen Daniels was the backbone of the entire Neighbours saga from 1985 to 1997.” Biography

6

Madge Bishop (1848 points) When Neighbours moved from Seven to Ten in 1986, snooty Madge Mitchell came to stay with her brother, Max. It soon became clear, however, that she had very little to be snooty about – a daughter she could barely speak to, a son in prison and a husband with a pregnant mistress. But as more of Madge’s past was revealed, she started to soften and a marriage to childhood sweetheart Harold Bishop turned her into the slightly more human, quick-witted battleaxe we came to know and love. Madge was devastated when Harold went missing in the sea in 1991 and, a year later, left Erinsborough to join her family up in Queensland. Madge’s return to reunite with Harold, who’d since been found alive and suffering from amnesia in Tasmania, revived the dying show in 1996. Actress Anne Charleston felt that the new Madge was too much of a victim, however, and, after another five years, she quit in 2001. This time, it was Harold’s turn to mourn as Madge came to a tragic end, dying of pancreatic cancer and the show lost one of its iconic characters. Biography

5

Izzy Hoyland (1967 points) It had been a while since Ramsay Street had been home to a bad girl, but in 2003, Izzy Hoyland arrived and soon proved that she wrote the book on manipulation. Although she didn’t strictly have an affair with married doctor Karl Kennedy, she was quick to swoop on him when his 30-year marriage to Susan ended and, before long, was lying that he was the father of the baby she was carrying. Although she later suffered a miscarriage, the unveiling of her year-long lie proved to be a highlight of the show’s 20th anniversary storylines in 2005. Just when it looked like she had little reason to stick around in Erinsborough, her pairing with the equally bad Paul Robinson proved to be a stroke of genius. 2006 saw Izzy leave town in her usual style, full of mystery and this time, carrying Karl’s baby for real. There will never be another Izzy Hoyland. Biography

4

Karl Kennedy (2473 points) The good Doctor Kennedy first arrived in Erinsborough with his family in 1994 but his early years were filled with family meetings and over-strict parenting and many viewers were left wondering how the Kennedys would ever really fit in to Ramsay Street. It took a kiss with his receptionist, Sarah Beaumont, at the end of 1997 to really kick start a storyline that would make Karl and his wife, Susan, the popular characters they are today. The “affair” never really got off the ground, but it would affect the Kennedy marriage for years to come. Karl also proved himself to be a strong character outside of the marriage, when the couple divorced in 2004 and he was conned by Izzy Hoyland into believing that she was carrying his child. The popularity of Karl is shared by his portrayer, Alan Fletcher, who, since 2005, has regularly played sell-out gigs with his band, Waiting Room, across the UK. Biography | Interview

3

Paul Robinson (2743 points) As he recently said himself, he was once a good guy with a bad side, but, following 12 years away from Erinsborough and a spell in prison, he became a bad guy with only a shred of good left. Regardless of any personality changes, it seems that both versions of the character are immensely popular with many voters, with fans new and old including him in their top ten lists. Paul’s seen and done a lot in a combined 10 years in Ramsay Street, having worked his way through three marriages and fathered five children, not to mention numerous other relationships, traumas and business deals along the way. These days, he’s back living at 22 Ramsay Street, the home he once shared with wives two and three, Gail and Chrissie, along with daughter Elle, and he’s become the resident that everyone loves to hate. Biography

2

Harold Bishop (3089 points) Reliable old duffer Harold first appeared in Ramsay Street back in 1987, complete with allergies, vegetarianism and firm Christian beliefs. Since then, he’s softened a bit, having cheated death once after falling into the ocean in 1991, then returning to town in 1996 after five years suffering from amnesia in Tasmania. No matter how dramatic things get in Erinsborough, Harold can always be relied on for some comic relief but the deaths of his daughter, Kerry, in 1990, beloved wife Madge in 2001, and his son, David, in 2005 proved that Ian Smith could break even a heart of stone with his portrayal of grief. And, of course, even after almost 15 years living in Ramsay Street on and off, he’s still capable of the odd surprise, as proved by his stint as Afro Harold, and womanising ways, following his stroke, in 2003. Like many other characters in this top ten, he would be a massive loss if he were to ever permanently leave his post as provider of coffee and moral guidance to the folks of Erinsborough. Biography

1

Susan Kinski (3385 points) Ramsay Street’s modern matriarch, Susan Wendy Smith Kennedy Smith Kinski was nearly 300 points ahead of her nearest rival for the top spot. Mother, stepmother, teacher, wife and confidante, Susan has spent over 10 years living at 28 Ramsay Street, during which time she’s seen all three of her children fly the nest and her husband leave her, only for them all to be replaced with a new husband and his three kids. That second husband, Alex, didn’t last long, in fact, he was dead by the end of their wedding day, and within six months, Susan had moved husband number one, Karl, back in. Jackie Woodburne’s understated performances as Susan slowly won over the fans, who weren’t at all taken by the Kennedy family upon their arrival in 1994. By 1998, the crisis in the Kennedy marriage, thanks to Sarah Beaumont, had captured everyone’s imaginations and, in the years that followed, the Kennedys took centre stage time and time again, the only blip coming in 2002 as Susan’s amnesia story divided fans. But now, as Susan and Karl finally make their way back to each other after their 2004 divorce, it’s impossible to imagine Ramsay Street without her. Biography

Thanks to Billy, Callum, Lucy, Ryan and Steve